Play the Slate NewsQuiz

With Jeopardy! superchampion Ken Jennings.

Every Friday I’ll be testing your knowledge with 12 challenging questions on the week’s news events, big and small, including happenings in science, sports, politics, and culture both high and low. The questions are multiple-choice, and time is of the essence: You have 30 seconds to answer, and as the seconds tick away, the question’s point value drops from 50 all the way down to zero, so you’ll want to click on your answer as fast as you possibly can. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer, so feel free to take a guess if your puny human brain fails you.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, as well as to the score of a Slate-sterwhom I’ve talked into taking the quiz on the record. This week’s contestant is William Saletan, who writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate. He’s also the author of Bearing Right.

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Think you can ace my quiz and beat Saletan? Good luck!

The Slate Quiz with quizmaster Ken Jennings

According to a British Viking festival, Norse myth predicts that Feb. 22, 2014 will mark the beginning of Ragnarok, the epic battle that ends the world. If the Vikings were right, the Earth will fall into the sea and most human life will be extinguished this weekend. In case this is the very last Slate News Quiz, I want to thank you all for playing along and apologize that the timer always ticked down so fast. But that's just how life is.

Question 1 of 12

What did the United Nations compare to Nazi Germany in a report released on Monday?

According to the report, Kim Jong-un's regime is responsible for crimes against humanity without "any parallel in the contemporary world."

Question 2 of 12

Appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday, Mitt Romney opined that who should be totally irrelevant in the 2016 presidential campaign?

Question 3 of 12

What unusual legislative tactic in India's Parliament interrupted the creation of the country's 29th state, Telangana?

Lower-house member Lagadapati Rajagopal claimed he acted in self-defense last week when he pepper-sprayed several colleagues during a five-minute brawl.

Question 4 of 12

As of last Thursday, Florida was the only state in the U.S. not to have what?

Many U.S. cities are nearing their records for the snowiest winter ever, and many are running short of salt for roads.

Question 5 of 12

Americans celebrated Monday as what long national embarrassment ended after 62 years of futility?

Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton took bronze, America's first medal in that event since Oslo 1952.

Question 6 of 12

A woman from Pickens County, S.C., spent the night in jail last week when authorities discovered an outstanding warrant for what 2005 crime?

The video store from which she rented the Jennifer Lopez vehicle closed years ago, but the police didn't care.

Question 7 of 12

What could cost about 500,000 American jobs, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office?

The proposed raise to a $10.10 federal minimum wage is also projected to lift almost a million Americans out of poverty.

Question 8 of 12

The nation of Finland is hoping to prevent as many as 5,000 traffic accidents a year with what novel approach?

Question 9 of 12

A depressed man in Chengdu, China, faced what final humiliation this week as he tried to commit suicide?

The white Bengal tigers seemed more unnerved than hungry when Yang Jinhai jumped into their enclosure, and zookeepers pulled him to safety.

Question 10 of 12

What startling discovery about earwax did scientists at a Philadelphia research center make in a new study?

Of the 12 stinky organic components of earwax being studied, 11 were more common in Caucasian men than Asian men.

Question 11 of 12

A truce in what city collapsed after just hours on Thursday, leading to dozens more deaths in bloody clashes near Independence Square?

Question 12 of 12

A trade organization has announced that America only has 2,500 of what, an unprecedented shortage?

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